Emails Show Reese Was Serious About Run

When Portland Police Chief Mike Reeseannounced late Monday afternoon he would not run for mayor in 2012 after all, some people questioned whether he'd ever been serious.

Here are a couple of emails that show his intentions: The first is from Erin Hubert, the Portland general manager for Entercom, which owns six local radio stations to members of the Citizens Crime Commission, which Hubert chairs.

In yesterday’s board meeting, for those who were able to attend, we discussed Chief Reese’s possible run for Mayor and how it will depend on his ability to generate funds this late in the game. He is using the month of November to collect pledges/checks, and will then assess in Dec. if he has enough, as compared to other candidates, to field a strong race. He is looking specifically for support from the business community.
This e-mail does not imply that the Crime Commission is endorsing Chief Reese’s bid for Mayor – it’s simply to communicate the effort taking place to generate pledges/checks from the business community.
Pledges can be called into Mike Kuykendall’s cell number at 503 [redacted], or checks can now be sent to....

Friends of Mike Reese
2236 S.E. 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97214
A website is in the works, and when I have that information, I will forward it on as well.
If the Chief should officially decide to not run in the next 30 days, all checks will be returned.

Second, as WWreported earlier, two big players in downtown real estate circles, Vanessa Sturgeon, of TMT Development, which owns the Fox Tower and other properties and Ron Beltz, of Asia Pacific International Capital, which owns the KOIN Tower, planned a Nov. 15 gathering for Reese at the Arlington Club. As WW also reported Reese cancelled that event last week because he was busy with Occupy Portland. What we didn't know is the event got rescheduled for Dec. 5—and is now also cancelled.

Here's the email that went out Monday morning, well in advance of Reese's official announcement:

From: Vanessa Sturgeon
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 9:38 AM

Subject: An Evening with Chief Reese - Cancelled

It is with great regret that we will be cancelling the December 5th event at the Arlington Club. Upon careful consideration, Chief Reese has decided to withdraw as a potential mayoral candidate and has decided he can best serve the Portland community and the Portland Police Bureau by remaining as Chief of Police.
Sincerely,
Vanessa Sturgeon and Ron Beltz

"In the low usage areas, we found that our vehicles sit idle four times longer, ultimately affecting overall vehicle availability for the Portland membership base, as well as parking for the Portland community."

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